Try putting a HC1, or HD10 in your pocket.

It will be fun for these people, and they can produce some nice things on DVD (lets face it, the compression on HDTV aren't that great either). Join in the spirit, even home videos on cheap mini-DV cameras benefit from 35mm DOF, especially with something like a large Canon zoom lens (slr adaptor on your camera, what camera? ;).

I sure hope there is an HD10 replacement because the HD100 I find it too big for travel. and for HD I really like/need AF. I'd take an HD10B with better controls and 12-bit DSP.

Still, as soon as I find a place with a 30-day trial, I'll try the Sanyo.

Joseph,

are you in PAL land - if so do you have any ideas for how to create a PAL DVD from the 30p footage?

Graham

No, sorry, I am in NTSC land. I would think editing programs like VEGAS would allow output to PAL, but I can't say I have ever checked it out.

I'm looking in the manual and it says on page 133 that you can:

'Specify the type of image signal that is output from your camera's USB/AV terminal or component terminal..'

It goes on to talk about how you can switch between PAL and NTSC, among other things.

I wonder does this mean you can capture 25p MPEG4?

Sounds too good to be true.

A lot of TVs ship with an auto NTSC mode now, that helps a bit, if setup right (under saturation in DVD player/TV, which is the one causing it). But yes DVD players can play back the footage on PAL, but say on a cheap player like mine, it comes out dull, jagged, jumpy, and or if it was transcoded from NTSC in the first place you get all these funny little double images etc from the Pull down.

I think I saw one of the Washington monuments in the background of one of Joseph's clips.

Yes, the Washington monument in NTSC ;) The video I took near the water was down the river from Washington DC.

Does anyone have more information about the Samsung SC-HDX15, then just some simple specs?

Look at the links I posted on the news forum threads, there are people talking about them in some forums.

We don't really need h264, if only the makers had released 50-100Mb/s Mpeg2 (even 35Mb/s Mpeg4) in the last year or two. Pro-sumer HD cameras are not like the 8 Mp Mpeg4 camera (like JVC did years ago).

Thanks

Wayne.

Pal
 

Graham,
I am using Apple hardware.
I put (drag and drop) all the Sanyo, Joseph & Co mp4 Clips into Imovie HD 5 (720p setting), exported the project to IDVD (Pal setting), and I got a playable PAL SD DVD (1 hour later on my PB G4 1.5). The quality is comparable to regular DVDs.
Here are the VOB features : mpeg-2, 720x576, 8000 kbps, 25 fps.

Luc-Henri

Thanks Wayne, i'll check it out.

Graham, I tried a clip with the setting in Pal mode and you get the same NTSC MP4 clip. This option is just for analog playback output from the camera to a TV. When they say USB it is because the USB and the AV are the same port. It is called the USB/AV port on the base.

Steve's Review
 

Check out www.stevesdigicams.com for Steve's review of the HD1. He has always liked the Sanyos ("a blast to use") and seems to have advanced his usually deliberate pace of "first looks" etc. I find his sample shots (mostly still) particularly useful because he shoots the same subjects with each camera.

Thanks Luc-Henri & Joseph - really appreciate your checking that out.

I work with PCs right now.

I'll hear about software that will forge a good PAL output, I'm sure.

Anybody have any ideas, please speak up.

Just reading that review at Steves Digicams.

"The HD1 incorporates a digital image stabilizer that compensates for distracting up-and-down or side-to-side camera movement, keeping your subject steady and easy to follow. It accurately distinguishes between unintentional camera shake and deliberate camera movement. This handy feature operates in both wide-angle and telephoto modes, giving every shot a solid, professional-looking feel."

I am usually very dismissive of OIS but perhaps it has application here. That said, I was playing with a C5 or a C6 in Dixons today, to get a rough idea what shooting with one of these Xacti's is like, and I must say that I didn't find keeping it steady difficult at all. I found the lightweight factor made keeping it steady very easy - although it is definitely a two-handed business, in my opinion, the other hand on the monitor...